Warm winds swept across the sky, carrying fallen leaves of withered bamboo from some unknown place...
An aged figure stepped out of thin air, his weathered face framed by white hair and a white beard, a faint bamboo fragrance drifting from him.
As soon as the old man appeared, Dao Twelve and the Dao Sect's six elders knelt before him. "Greetings, Ancestor."
The old man nodded toward Old Woman Lei Li high above, then turned to look down at the Dao Sect beneath his feet, sorrow in his eyes. "Leave..."
"What?" Dao Twelve and the elders all froze.
The old man sighed. "The spiritual power in our Ninth Realm is thin, and our foundations are far too weak. We cannot defeat the cultivators of the Upper Realm... I can buy you a quarter of an hour. Evacuate the Dao Sect from Dao Xuan Mountain!"
"Ancestor..." Grief filled Dao Hua's eyes. He had never imagined that even summoning their ancestor would lead to this outcome.
"Ancestor..." Dao Twelve stared blankly at the old man and gave a bleak laugh. "Now that entire clans from the Upper Realm have descended, where in this world can we go?"
"Go to Great Hua..."
Suddenly, golden light flared, and a figure clad in dragon robes appeared before them.
"Emperor Xing!" Several elders recognized the newcomer. He was the emperor of the Great Xing Kingdom, where the Dao Sect stood.
Emperor Xing looked at Dao Twelve and sighed before slowly saying, "I have an agreement with the Emperor of Great Hua. I can send you to Great Xing's border, where the Emperor of Great Hua will meet you!"
"What?" The elders could not believe it. When had Great Xing's emperor reached some sort of agreement with Great Hua's emperor?
The old man glanced at the Dao